The NSW government has welcomed the latest cohort of graduates into its yearly training program.
The program will see the graduates work in a range of streams – including social work, engineering, legal and digital – over three placements in 18 months.
This year’s 182 graduates were selected from a pool of more than 4,000. The number of graduates has fallen from last year’s record intake of 285.
A spokesperson for the NSW Public Service commissioner said the intake was lower this year because of lower demand for new talent.
“Intakes for the NSW Government Graduate Program are based on the needs of NSW government agencies, reflecting our ongoing commitment to retaining and attracting high calibre talent to NSW government,” she said.
“Agency commitments are based on workforce strategy and developing a pipeline of talent. Commitment varies each year in line with the employment market.
“This year graduates were placed in 28 different agencies and will benefit from three placements over the 18-month duration of the program (graduates in the social work stream will have two placements).”
Reflecting the current jobs market, 103 graduates are in the ‘primary’ stream, 22 are in engineering, 21 in digital, 19 in legal and 17 in social work.
Regional NSW will host 6% of graduates.
Primary-stream graduates get to nominate functional areas of interest to learn about and will work in a range of areas, from analytics or human resources to policy and projects. As part of the structured program, the starters are eligible for roles across the greater Sydney metropolitan, central west, Hunter, north coast, south coast, south-east and south-west regions.
The NSW public sector graduate stream for law offers trainees the opportunity to earn their Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP), which entitles them to apply for qualification as a practising solicitor. This is a more competitive stream, with approximately 15 vacancies in the greater Sydney metropolitan region each year.
Graduates in the digital stream will play a part in defining how the people of NSW interact with digital government services. From identifying cyber security risks to designing and delivering products and services, you will work across critical areas such as health, housing, customer service and transport.
Engineering graduates will work on a wide range of different projects, from health and infrastructure to transport.
The social work stream places about 10 graduates in the Department of Communities and Justice who have a degree in social work, psychology or social science. The program gives participants a pathway to becoming a NSW caseworker.
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